Darlington: Patrick Carpentier preview

Patrick Carpentier has never been to Darlington Raceway, but he's been
reading about it.
The open wheel veteran but NASCAR rookie bought a NASCAR history book
at a Daytona bookstore in February. When he's not racing the No. 10
LifeLock Dodge or...

Patrick Carpentier has never been to Darlington Raceway, but he's been
reading about it.

The open wheel veteran but NASCAR rookie bought a NASCAR history book
at a Daytona bookstore in February. When he's not racing the No. 10
LifeLock Dodge or spending time with wife Anick and two young children,
the Quebec native has read about the drivers, machines and tracks that
made NASCAR one of the world's fastest growing sports.

While Carpentier studies his new sport's history, he's been adding to
its international appeal. At Richmond, he earned the No. 10 Gillett
Evernham Motorsports team its best qualifying spot of the year, when he
took the fourth position. He's qualified for the last five races despite
not visiting three of the five tracks.

The 36-year-old hopes to continue the impressive qualifying streak
this weekend in Darlington. . Carpentier believes the limited testing
opportunities on the track's new surface might level the playing field
between the rookie and NASCAR veterans.

TV and Radio Times: Qualifying is set for Friday at 5:15 p.m. (ET) on
SPEED TV and MRN Radio. Race time on Saturday is 7:20 p.m. (ET) on Fox
and MRN Radio.

PATRICK CARPENTIER:

ON DARLINGTON: "Darlington is going to be very interesting, to say
the least. This will be another track that I haven't been to. But I'm
excited to go to a track with as much history as Darlington has. A lot
of the legends of the sport have raced there. Guys like Bobby Allison,
Buddy Baker and David Pearson. I've been reading my NASCAR history book
and those guys put down a lot of laps around that track. I was looking
at pictures of how close they ran up against the wall in the corners.
I was like, 'are you serious?' I wish they could tell me some of their
secrets. I know I'll need some tips to make this race.

"I hope the new racing surface will help level the playing field for me.
I don't think the track has seen anything other than testing, so when we
get to race conditions things may be different. The track will be a lot
smoother and faster than it was in the past. Getting my first Darlington
stripe will be really cool. Hopefully, it's not too big. Elliott Sadler
told me if you don't get a stripe on your car, you're not going fast
enough. If that's true, I hope we have the whole right side of the car
full of stripes."

A BRIEF RECAP OF LAST WEEK: "As a team, we're moving on. We had high
hopes last weekend after qualifying so well. That didn't really work
out in the race though. We just got caught up in something that wasn't
our mess. It happens in racing. We're keeping our heads up and our eyes
focused on the upcoming races. The LifeLock crew is testing at Charlotte
on Monday and Tuesday this week. GEM has a history of running well at
Charlotte and we want to use the test to make the most of that race.

Carpentier will be driving chassis No. 232. Backup is No. 218.

* This is Carpentier's first trip to Darlington Raceway. * He has been
preparing for the track by utilizing a race simulator, watching races
and even reading up on the history of the track. * Carpentier must
qualify on time since he is outside the top-35.